Never Alone
by Caitlin51
Summary: A few Halgie drabbles in honour of the new season starting - angst and fluff! Hal/Maggie.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: This is my first attempt into the Falling Skies fandom, so please let me know what you thought and if I should continue. Also, if you have any ideas for future chapters, I would appreciate suggestions!_

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"_You know that you mean the world to me, Maggie," he murmured, his breath hot against her skin._

_She had never been great with words, but this time, it was obvious what she needed to say. "I love you," she responded, her voice barely more than a whisper._

_He pulled her closer against him and she could feel him smile as he responded in kind, 'I love you too, Maggie."_

_..._

Noise invaded her consciousness - a constant chattering that slowly began to resolve into individual voices as she began to wake up. But she didn't want to wake up. Squeezing her eyelids shut, she tried with all her will to chase the fading dream, trying desperately to hold onto the peaceful paradise. It had been just her and Hal, no skitters, no Karen.

"Maggie!"

She groaned, trying to ignore the voice calling at her in an attempt to return to her sleep. However, the voice was persistent.

"Maggie, wake up!"

The person sounded insistent, but still she tried to sink back into the darkness. She was just _so _tired. Why couldn't she just sleep a little longer?

"Please, Maggie…" This time, she was able to recognize the voice as Hal's. Why did he sound so upset, so broken? His voice nearly trembled with emotion. "Don't leave."

Sighing mentally, Maggie forced her eyes to open, to reassure Hal with whatever he was so worried about.

Pain. Blinding, horrific pain attacked her the second the light hit her eyes, and she screamed soundlessly, writhing on the bed.

"Anne! Help!" Hal screamed, attempting to hold her down despite the danger she presented with her thrashing limbs.

Vaguely, she was aware of fragments of memories creeping into her pain-filled brain.

_Skitters and mechs._

_Shots fired._

_Blood. Her blood, staining the pavement._

_Hal's tortured gaze as she met his eyes._

_The realization that she was dying_.

"Hal," she mumbled around the pain, "I'm sorry."

"Shush, Maggie," he said, still holding her. "You're gonna be fine." It sounded like he was trying to convince himself, but it still reassured her slightly.

Hal wouldn't lie to her, would he?

"Out of the way," she heard Anne order, and then she felt Hal's arms move.

"No," she tried weakly to protest, "Don't leave." The place where he had been felt so empty now; she felt alone with the pain.

"Relax, Maggie," Anne's soothing voice cut through the pain, "Hal's still here."

A hand smoothed back the hair on her forehead, and she nearly gasped in relief. Hal hadn't abandoned her.  
"I'm dying." It wasn't a question - she had seen her wound.

"No, hon, you aren't dying." Anne replied gently. "It was close though."

She felt a pinch on her upper arm and then the pain immediately started to recede.

"You should be feeling better soon."

Hal's voice cut in, rough with worry. "Never do that to me again," he ordered, but she could see the stark relief on his face.

The darkness reached towards Maggie again, trying to claim her. Fighting it, she strove to stay awake, to stay with Hal. But it was useless - Anne must have given her something to make her sleep.

"Stay?" she managed to mumble, her eyes closing against her will.

"I'll never leave," he promised.

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_Please review and let me know what you thought!_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: So, I plan on updating this drabble series about once a week, right before or after every new episode airs (hopefully, I will be inspired and not crushed by the new season, but we'll see). Anyway, please review!_

_Also, I am now a registered beta reader, so check out my profile._

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The nightmares returned that night. They never left him for long, but tonight they were worse than usual. And there was nothing he could do to escape.

...

_Karen stood there, her chin high. Her eyes blazed with an intense passion, a passion that frightened Hal, though he would never show it._

"_You killed me, Hal," she said, her voice both sad and powerful at the same time.  
"It wasn't my fault, Karen," he choked out, falling to his knees. His gun tumbled out of his hands and landed on the grass in front of him, just out of his reach. "I tried…"_

"_You failed," she interrupted him ruthlessly, taking a couple steps to close the distance between them. "You let them take me."_

_Putting his head in his hands, Hal covered his ears, trying desperately to block out the sound of her accusations. It didn't work. It never did._

"_Then," Karen's voice came from right next to him now and he felt her move his hands away from his ears while he was unable to resist her, "You let her kill me."_

_A gunshot sounded and Karen fell, some of the blood from the wound spraying onto Hal's hands in front of his shocked eyes._

"_Noooo!" he screamed, the sound tearing itself from his throat in an anguished roar._

_..._

Hal's eyes flew open and he sat up straight in his sleeping bag, his bare skin covered in a cold sweat, his breathing ragged. Clutching his arms around his torso, he bent forward slightly, trying to calm his racing heart and keep his tears from spilling out of his eyes.

_Karen._ He thought about her a lot since...well, since her death. And at night, she still plagued him unceasingly.

Groaning, he rubbed his sleep-deprived eyes with his palms, trying to wipe away the image of her falling to the ground, her sightless eyes still accusing him for abandoning her and letting her become an alien host. He knew that the guilt would never leave him, but he just wished that it would give him a break from the torment, just long enough for him to catch some sleep before they had to move out in the morning.

A sound at the flap of his makeshift tent alerted him to an approaching presence. He smiled wryly despite himself at the thought of the word 'tent' - really, it was a couple ratty sheets hung from tree branches that afforded him little privacy. But it was better than nothing, he supposed.

A couple seconds later, Maggie's blonde head poked into the small area, her eyes immediately taking in his tortured appearance and ragged breathing. "The nightmares?" she asked, her voice soft and concerned.  
Ignoring her question, he asked, "Are you off sentry duty?"

"I can be," she replied without hesitation, taking off her gun and placing it next to her sleeping roll. "I told Ben to cover me while I came to check on you."

Hal sighed in frustration and flopped backwards. "I'm not a child, Maggie. You don't need to check on me."

Without a word, she lay down next to him and slipped her hand into his, both of them staring up into the starry sky.

"I'm sorry," Hal said softly after a long moment. "I know it's because you care."

"It's okay to have weaknesses, Hal," she replied, her voice thoughtful as she spoke. "We all do."

"I don't want anyone's pity."

"Let's compromise, then," she turned to face him, and he could see that she was smiling, the smile that made his heart flutter.

Propping himself up on one elbow, Hal gently twirled a lock of her golden hair around his finger. "What do you suggest?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Well," she reached up and took his hand in hers, "How about I promise not to pity you if you just tell me what's going on."

Pensively, Hal regarded her. He needed her - that much was clear to him. And that should make his decision easy, but it was still hard for him to say, "It was the nightmares. About Karen."

She watched him intently, her eyes searching his face. "You want to talk about it?"

Immediately, Hal shook his head. "No. I want to forget about it."

Wiggling a little closer to him, she lowered her voice slightly. "How can I help?"

"Stay with me?" He winced at how vulnerable he sounded, but he needed her here if he had any chance at staying sane.

"Always," she affirmed, as she moved into his embrace.

That night, with her lying in his arms, the nightmares didn't dare return.

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_Please review!_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: I'm so upset about the new season...Hal and Maggie are fighting =(. It's so sad, so I'm going to write stories where they are still happy together and so perfect for each other._

_Please review if you want the story continued!_

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"Hal, look here."

Lifting his gaze from the unfamiliar sight of a flatscreen TV, Hal turned towards the sound of Maggie's voice. "What?" he called, gripping his gun just in case Maggie had stumbled into something dangerous. She had sounded more excited than scared, but he wasn't going to take chances with her life.

"Come and see," her voice floated out to him, sounding lighter than he had heard it sound recently.

Allowing his gun to drop back to his side, Hal walked through the dusty living room and into the kitchen, where he immediately spotted Maggie sitting at the kitchen table. It was dust-free; she must have cleared it off. The sight of her, sitting there, relaxed and smiling, brought a smile to his face.

"Come join me," she smiled, gesturing to the chair next to her.

"Okay," he agreed immediately, confused but not wanting to do anything that would wipe the joy off her face. Lifting the strap his gun hung from over his head, he placed the weapon on the edge of the table and sat next to her. "What are we doing?"

"Well," she bit her lip - a gesture he knew she did when she was excited about something, "Look what I found." She pulled a small box out from where she had been hiding it in her lap under the table and placed it on the wooden surface in front of them.

It was a puzzle.

A five-hundred piece puzzle with a picture of the Boston skyline.

"A puzzle," Hal said out loud, without a lot of enthusiasm.

If Maggie noticed his apathetic response, she didn't comment. "Yeah." Dumping it out of the box and onto the table, she started turning over pieces. After a moment of silence while Hal pitched in, she continued, "I love these things."

"Why?" he asked, then winced as he realized that his question came out a little more accusatory than he had intended. Quickly, he added in a softer tone, "I mean, why do you love them so much? I wouldn't have pegged you for the puzzle type."

She laughed then, a full rich sound, her head thrown back. "That's fair," she admitted. "It doesn't really sound like my thing."

Staring at her, Hal couldn't help but be mesmerized by her delight - it was a side of her that he loved, but he didn't often get to see. The war didn't leave much room for downtime. "So then why is it?' he turned sideways in his chair so that he could face her and soak in this rare moment.

Brushing a strand of hair back, she focused intently on the puzzle as she replied, "I spent a lot of time in hospitals and on bed-rest when I was sick."

Nodding encouragingly, Hal reached out and gently took one of her hands in his, silently allowing her to continue.

"There wasn't a lot to do." She flipped over another couple of pieces before turning to him and smiling. "Puzzles became my hobby - I even got good."

Hal ducked his head and laughed. Maggie had this incredible ability to continually surprise him. Everytime he thought that he had her figured out, she showed him a glimpse of another layer. "I'm impressed."

"You should be," she declared with a grin.

"Hal, Maggie, you in there?"

Both of them turned at the sound of Tom's voice near the front door.

"Yeah. Are we moving out?" Hal asked, slightly annoyed that his father had interrupted the couple minutes of time he was able to spend alone with Maggie.

"Two minutes," Tom announced, then Hal clearly heard the sound of his retreating footsteps.

Shooting him a slightly wistful glance, Maggie said, "Ready?"

"Yeah." He gave her hand a squeeze, and then stood.

Hand-in-hand, they walked out of the house, leaving the unfinished puzzle on the table.

Tom clapped Hal on the shoulder. "Okay, let's head out," he ordered, raising his voice.

"Dad," Hal muttered, pulling his father away slightly, "I have to run and grab something. I'll catch up." Before his father could say anything, Hal broke off from the column and sprinted back into the house that he and Maggie had just vacated.

The puzzle was there, where they had left it. It only took a second for Hal to gather up the pieces and get them back into the box, then run out and rejoin the Second Mass.

He wanted to see Maggie smile like that more often.

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_Please please please review!_


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